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Fort HealthCare Pharmacy Resident Presents at State Conference

May 1, 2018

Fort Healthcare Pharmacy Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY1) Resident, Steffen Matijevich, presents research work completed at Fort Healthcare while attending the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin Educational Conference held on April 5 and 6, 2018 in Madison, Wis. at the Monona Terrace. Matijevich, a Milton native, graduated from the University of Wisconsin Madison-School of Pharmacy and is completing post-graduate work at Fort HealthCare Pharmacy Department.

This important post-graduate work, called a PGY1 Residency, allows Matijevich and other residents like him across the nation to gain additional clinical practice knowledge and experience through patient-centered activities in real-time with a pharmacist mentor/preceptor at their side as a resource. The goal of residency training is to help support students as they enter into practice with the confidence, knowledge and skills of a pharmacist in a complex healthcare environment.

While training at Fort HealthCare, Matijevich gains the skills to assist and support physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners as part of a multi-disciplinary care team and ultimately helps to provide the best patient care experience possible.

Matijevich’s research at Fort Healthcare allowed him to pilot a new program focused on supporting ambulatory care and outpatient primary and family practice physicians and their teams with medication-based recommendations and inquiries. The focus of his work was in pain medication therapy management and showed how pharmacists can be part of the solution to better patient outcomes.

His work was shared at the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin Educational Conference, a state-wide conference attracting pharmacists and pharmacy technicians across Wisconsin as well as neighboring states. He provided a summary of his work in both short oral presentations to his peers and practicing pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and also as part of a large poster presentation.

Interest in his work was well received, as pharmacists continue to strive to find more beneficial ways to support providers and patient care outside the hospital and bridge the gap in transitions of care to the outpatient pharmacist services.

Fort HealthCare’s PGY1 Residency Program began just last year, the first of its kind nationally, leveraging a collaboration with UW Health, where pharmacy residents are exposed to all that Fort Healthcare has to offer: Emergency Services, Labor and Delivery/Obstetrics, Medical/Surgical Care, Intensive Care, Ambulatory Primary Care Services, Population Health, Drug Information and Pharmacy Management, as well as the unique services provided at UW Health – such as Critical Care, Psychiatry Services and Infectious Disease Specialty.

Sarah Pagenkopf, PharmD, BCPS, Pharmacy Clinical Manager with Fort HealthCare, states, “Our organization is currently working toward accreditation through the American Society of Health System (ASHP) for their program which will join 2,310 accredited AHSP Residency Programs across the nation, with 175 of those programs right here in Wisconsin. This unique opportunity helps Fort HealthCare meet its Mission and Vision by enhancing the care provided for patients, envisioning and activating new ways to provide care, and by supporting the next generation of healthcare providers.”

Fort HealthCare is committed to improving the health and well-being of our communities, with a vision to be the healthiest community in Wisconsin. As the leading healthcare provider in the region, it is our goal to reach as many members of the community as possible with health and wellness messages, providing tools and resources to help individuals improve their health and quality of life, while collaborating with several partners to positively improve the population’s health overall on a long term basis. For more information, visit FortHealthCare.com.